How to Save a Life
by Live Fast Die Never
Summary: [There hadn’t been any goodbyes, nothing to signify anything that could lead to death… no warning signs. Just dead.] WARNING: Character Death. Slight RHr


Harry stared into the billowing fire; he sat on the floor leaning against the deep red couch in 12 Grimwald Place. His face was lit up by showing the shock and disbelief in his deep mourning expression.

He was gone.

Gone forever.

It was a simple stated fact that Harry found hard to believe at this time. How could he be gone? There hadn't been any goodbyes, nothing to signify anything that could lead to death… no warning signs. Just dead.

So, how could he be truly gone?

How could Ron have died?

Ron.

The simple, one syllable, word meant so much to Harry, meant so much to Hermione, to the Weasley's, to the Hogwarts teachers, to the Order of the Phoenix… Ron.

* * *

_Harry stared at the roof of the first year's boys dormitory. It was his first night at Hogwarts and he couldn't help but being to excited to sleep._

"_Ron?" He questioned in a whispered voice, so not to wake the other boys._

_Ron immediately rolled over to look at Harry. "Can't sleep either?" Ron questioned._

_Harry nodded. "It's just… exciting."_

"_I know." Ron replied with a grin. "I'm finally here."_

_Harry sighed. "It's like a dream."_

_Ron shrugged. "Not really a dream, more like… _Finally_."_

_Harry laughed then realized his mistake and immediately quieted hearing mumbling from the other side of the room._

"_Nice one Harry." Ron said with a lopsided smile. "I bet you the other boys won't be happy if you wake them up."_

"_I'm trying to be quiet… it's just hard." Harry answered with a bit of a hiss._

_Ron then pulled back his covers. "Well, lets go down into the Common Room. We can't wake anyone up then. We can play chess or something."_

_Harry grinned and quickly pulled back his sheets and got out of bed. "It sounds fun… but I don't know how to play chess."_

"_Don't know how to play chess?!" Said Ron in a shocked and very loud voice, he then looked around worriedly, but lucky didn't wake anyone. "I'll teach you." He whispered._

_The two first years then quietly exited their dorm._

* * *

Harry loved him like a brother, more than a brother… Ron was the first friend Harry had ever had, the first person Harry knew cared about him, the first person that Harry had never wanted to leave him… but he had. He had left him, just like his parents… just like Sirius and Dumbledore.

* * *

_Ron yawned and stretched his arms. "Morning Harry."_

_Harry looked over and smiled. "Morning."_

"_Did you sleep okay?" Ron asked. "I mean… the floors isn't really comfy…"_

_Harry grinned. "I slept great." He answered, then got a puzzled look on his face. "Except half way through the night I was woken up by an.. explosion?"_

_Ron nodded as if it were normal. "That's Fred and George." He answered. "They do that all the time, everyone else has just learned to ignore it."_

_Harry still had a puzzled look on his face, but seemed to accept this. "So, what do we do today?" Harry questioned._

"_We could practice quidditch." Ron said, then added on. "If you want to."_

_Harry nodded gleefully. "I've been hoping to get some practice in ever since I got to the Dursley's."_

"_Great!" said Ron with a great big grin on his face. "'Course we'll have to invite Fred and George. They've never not wanted to Quidditch and won't let us leave without them."_

_Harry shrugged. "It's okay. I like them."_

_Ron smiled. "Well, that's good because their here all summer."_

_Harry laughed at that._

* * *

Maybe it was a dream… a terrible dream that would be over when he woke up. But the longer he went on living this dream, the less and less he believed it to be a dream. The more he thought it to be reality and with the funeral only days away… maybe it wasn't a dream at all.

No one had been taking the death easily. Hermione had locked herself in his old room at Grimwald's and didn't come out unless forced to, she'd finally gotten over it a few days earlier and had begun to come out and eat meals with Harry, but she still slept in there probably trying to make it a dream as well.

Mr. and Mrs. Weasley had been in deep mourning for a very longtime and still were. Mrs. Weasley hadn't cooked in weeks. Mr. Weasley had given up on his collection. Harry knew that they would take up their hobbies again, but for now… it wasn't something they could do. Amos Diggory had been helping them out, having gone through the same type of loss himself.

Bill and Charlie immediately stopped their jobs and came to stay at the Burrow. Fleur accompanied Bill, pained by the loss herself. Fred and George had temporarily closed down the shop and come to stay with their parents as well. Percy had even stopped his job and finally came to see his family. Ginny was taking it hard, being closer to Ron then most of the other siblings; she had stopped everything and had been staying at the burrow with her parents as well, though at the point she is at now… she had no intention on ever going back to doing anything.

* * *

_Harry sighed. "He was here." He mumbled._

_Ron was still carrying a fearful expression on his face, the experience of Sirius Black standing over him with a knife had quite an effect on him._

"_Ron?" Harry questioned looking at his best friend._

_Ron looked at Harry. "Yeah… Sorry, I wasn't really paying attention."_

"_It's okay." Harry answered. "You've had a bit of a… interesting night."_

_Ron nodded. "It was scary." He said, "I'm not going to deny it either. I saw him standing there and I saw my life flash before my eyes."_

"_Ron…" Harry began._

"_No." Ron said cutting Harry off. "It was really… shocking, I guess you never really know how easy it is to die until you almost do."_

"_You weren't going to die." Harry replied, although, in all honesty he didn't really know what would have happened if Ron hadn't woken up when he did._

_Ron sighed and shook his head. "It was weird Harry. I'm telling you, I never want to feel like that again."_

_Harry just nodded and turned to see a certain bushy haired girl watching Ron with tears in her eyes. As soon as she saw Harry watching she ducked behind the book she was holding._

"_She looks worried." Harry said nodding towards Hermione. "Maybe you should give her a break."_

_Ron groaned. "Can we _please_ not get into this right now?"_

_Harry sighed and didn't mention it again._

* * *

Was it his own fault?

Was there something he could have done to prevent it?

The thoughts entered his mind, wandering through his mind telling him that he's a murderer… that it's his fault. This same thoughts came to him after the passing of his parents, Cedric, Sirius, and Dumbledore… the thing is those were his fault. Or so he believed.

If he had sacrificed himself… if he hadn't jumped to conclusion… if he had just been a little more selfish… if he simple hadn't been born…

So what was to stop him from believing that Ron's death was his fault?

* * *

_The Second Task was completed and Harry was overjoyed. Second Place, it was s good position and he could hardly believe it._

_He walked out of the Hospital Wing with a smile on his face and was greeted by a happy Ron and Hermione. For once._

"_You're in second!" Hermione immediately said. "It's so… exciting! I bet no one thought you could do it, never the less make it this far!"_

_Harry raised an eyebrow at Hermione and said; "Thanks Hermione…"_

_She looked at him sympathetically. "Sorry… I'm just excited is all."_

"_Well, how about it?" Ron asked. "Hermione can't be the only one excited."_

_Harry grinned. "I am! I was really surprised, now Hogwarts is in the lead. No matter what."_

"_Forget Hogwarts!" Ron said. "You're in second, you can take the lead, you can win!"_

"_It's not all about winning." Hermione injected._

_Ron rolled his eyes. "Oh right, you're still on about that whole School Unity thing."_

_Hermione glared at him. "Ronald! It is not something I'm 'all on about' it is what this was created for!"_

"_Either that or to compete against other schools for the Cup and money." Ron answered with a smug look. "I'm going to have to go with the second one."_

_Harry sighed. "Please, don't start on this whole thing." He said looking at them sincerely. "It's just going to end badly."_

"_It already has!" Hermione snapped and stomped off._

_Harry groaned. "Why do you do that?" He asked._

_Ron just shrugged and looked at his feet. "I don't know… I just do."_

_Harry sighed. "Maybe you should try to stop."_

"_It'll be all cleared up by tomorrow." Ron said with a shrug. "We don't mean anything by it."_

"_Does Hermione know that?" Harry asked._

_Ron looked at Harry with a puzzled expression. "You mean she wouldn't?"_

* * *

Harry didn't notice when the fire began to die down, when the cackling slowed… he didn't notice the moons rays streaking in the windows, he didn't notice that everything was becoming pitch black.

He didn't notice the creaking of footsteps, he didn't notice Hermione's presence in the room, he didn't notice when she sat down next to him or when she wrapped her arms around him and started crying in his shoulder.

All he noticed was that Ron wasn't there.

Ron wasn't there to watch the dying flames.

Ron wasn't there to sit in the light of the moon.

Ron wasn't there to greet Hermione.

Ron wasn't there to comfort the sobbing girl.

* * *

_Ron rolled over and finally awoke._

_Harry looked over, relieved that he could now have something to do other than stare at the ceiling praying that he didn't fall asleep. "How'd you sleep?"_

"_Pretty well." Ron answered. "Considering you know… I guess once I found out the Dad was going to be okay I was finally able to get some sleep."_

_Harry nodded. "Yeah, me too."_

"_It's lucky you got the vision thing Harry." Ron said with a small smile. "I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't."_

"_Yeah…" Said Harry a bit distracted. The vision had not been something he'd been wanting to think about. The thought of it disturbed him. More than he could have ever imagined it would._

_Ron yawned. "I guess we should go have lunch."_

_Harry nodded. "Lunch, yeah."_

_Ron looked at Harry oddly. "Is something wrong?"_

_Harry immediately shook his head. "No. I'm fine… just everything you know."_

"_Yeah…" Ron replied as the trudge down the stairs to the kitchen. "Everything."_

* * *

Harry looked over at Hermione numbly, he didn't know what to say so he didn't say anything. He put his arms around his dear friend and held her close.

"I love you." She said with a loud sob. "You know that right?"

She didn't mean it any romantic way. She loved him as a friend, simply a very dear friend she cared deeply about. He nodded. "I know." He said. "I love you too."

He felt her tears soaking through his shirt and heard her loudly mournful sobs. "I miss him… so much!" She once again went into a fit of sobbing, her whole body racking.

Harry couldn't say anything, but he began to feel droplets of water trickling down his cheeks and he held Hermione tighter.

* * *

_Harry let a smile show on his face. "We can't miss that."_

"_I think Mum would kill us if we even tried." Ron said with a toothy grin. "She's all caught up in the wedding now that she _approves_ of Fleur. Just you wait after the wedding Mum will be complaining about her all over again."_

_Hermione showed an amused smile. "I don't know. I think the Mrs. Weasley really has accepted Fleur. She's not that bad."_

_Harry shrugged and then frowned as he began to think of the destiny ahead of him. "Are you sure?" He asked going back to the previous conversation._

_Hermione just laughed. "Harry, we're sure."_

_Harry nodded. "Just double checking. I don't want you to make any decisions you'll regret later."_

"_We'll never regret helping you." Ron said with honesty burning in his eyes._

_Harry smiled. "Thank you." He said. "For everything, you're the greatest friends anyone could ask for."_

_Hermione grinned and hugged Harry where as Ron merely said; "You can't hear that enough."_

_Harry and Hermione laughed at Ron's comment before Hermione dragged him in for a group hug._

* * *

Harry felt the tears streaking his face and held Hermione tightly. "I miss him… so much."

Hermione let out an even louder sob then he had heard before.

"He was always there… and now…" Harry couldn't even finish the sentence and felt tears covering his face.

Hermione burst into another set of sobs, her body shaking. "I love him… so much. I…" She stopped to let out another sob. "I loved him." The word _loved_ sent her off again and she held Harry tightly.

"Me too…" Harry whispered hoarsely and felt the tears beginning to drip more rapidly.

* * *

_Harry smiled at the view, it was beautiful. He turned to Ron and Hermione, "So, what do we do now?"_

_Ron sighed. "Well, now that we're up here… watch the view?"_

_Harry nodded. The trio sat together on top of Hogwarts watching the view of the Forbidden Forest and the vast amounts of open land just beyond it. The sounds from Hogsmede reached their ears and the view was perfect._

"_This could be the last time we ever do this." Hermione said solemnly._

_Ron grinned. "We've never done this before 'Mione."_

_Hermione let a half smile grace her lips. "You know what I mean."_

"_Yeah…" Harry said, "After this it's going to be… serious."_

"_It was always serious, mate." Ron informed his friend. "I don't think this'll be the last time, I don't even think it's possible. After this is all over we can do exactly this."_

_Harry had to smile at his friends positive attitude and turned back to watch the trees sway in the wind, jokingly saying; "This is why we keep you around Ron."_

* * *

Harry let out a loud sob, finally letting out his pain, finally letting out all of his emotions. He cried for Ron, for everything Ron was.

For the chess they played through out his life.

For the comfort Ron gave him, without knowing he was giving it.

For the funny comments he would make that would lighten Harry's mood despite it all.

For the meaningful conversations they could share when it really mattered.

For the way he would act whenever Hermione mentioned Krum.

For the hateful remarks he made about Draco Malfoy whenever it was a possibility.

For the way he was overly-protective of Ginny, especially when it came to boys.

For the undying loyalty he had to his friends, no matter what the circumstances.

For the fact that he was Ron.

He cried for Ron.

* * *

"_Mr. Potter. You're awake."_

_Harry watched as a slightly chubby nurse bustled around him. "What happened?" he muttered trying to make sense of everything._

"_Well, the battle Mr. Potter." She answered a look of shock on her face. "Do you not remember?"_

_It all came rushing back as she said the words… everything that had happened, all the people he'd seen damaged, and everything. "I remember." He answered with pain in voice. "How could I forget?"_

_The nurse sighed, "Well, we've healed you as much as we can Mr. Potter. Over the next few days you'll heal even more and be out of here and back out on the field of duty, doing what you do best."_

"_And what's that?" Harry muttered._

"_Well, stopping You-Know-Who of course." She answered, causing Harry's eyes to widen._

"_I killed him." Harry answered, scared of what the Nurse may tell him._

_Nurse nodded. "Yes, you did. But he's followers aren't all dead. Your fellow Aurors are out there rounding them up."_

_Harry stared out the window. "Are Ron and Hermione already out of here?"_

_The Nurse looked down sadly. "Oh… they warned me about this."_

"_What?" Harry asked confused and slightly bleary._

"_They warned me that you'd be asking about Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley…" She answered and tried to make herself busy fluffing his pillow and straightening his sheets._

"_What happened?" Harry asked clearly, any bleariness quickly fading away in his fear of what happened._

_The Nurse took a deep breath. "Well, Ms. Granger is out of here… she was barely in here, after she woke up she left… she couldn't handle being here."_

"_Why? What happened?!" Harry asked more urgently then before._

"_Mr. Weasley… is dead."_

_Harry felt like he had hit rock bottom… the words ringing over and over in his ears. Dead… Dead… Ron was dead._

_

* * *

_

**Authors Note:** I almost cried writing this. I swear if JKR kills Ron I'll be sobbing for days. Anyways, this was for a challenge for _The Final Prophecy_ and the challenge was to write a fanfiction inspired by a picture of Harry staring in what (to me) looked like a fire. You only see Harry and the light on his face, I took it as a fire. So this is what the picture spurred.

Other requirments were:  
(1) English only, please.  
(2) Must be between 2,000-3,000 words. _(The actual story is only 2,838 words long.)_  
(3) Only use Harry Potter characters (no originals).

The title was inspired by the song _How to Save a Life By The Fray_ it's a very sad song, and I listened to it the entire time while I wrote this.

R&R  
Live Fast Die Never


End file.
